Pages

Friday, May 31, 2013

Today
I'm very pleased to introduce you to Donna Hawk, as part of Donna's
blog tour with Saskia Book Tours. Take it away, Donna!

1. Tell us a little about yourself.

My
name is Donna Hawk. I’ve been a middle school teacher for 33 years. I
taught Reading, mostly, but also I’ve taught a variety of things:
yearbook, photography, creative writing, social studies… the list seems
endless. I truly enjoy that age kids. I retired two years ago because I
wanted to devote time to writing. I live in a small town, on a farm with
my husband, a dog, and a whole bunch of cows. I know everyone in town,
so writing is a good way to escape! I am also an avid photographer.

2. When did you start writing, and why?

I
don’t remember liking or not liking to write as a child. I was pretty
normal as far as my attitude toward school. In college, I became an avid
reader. I often thought: I think I can do this, when I read a book I
really liked. Between college and my boys leaving to go to college
themselves, I wrote several full-length manuscripts, but for a long time
never had the nerve to send them off to anyone. Sometimes I go back and
reread them just to make myself laugh. The early ones were pretty
awful.

3. What do you write? What do you like about writing it?

At first, and this includes my old ones, I wrote mainly romances
because that’s what I was used to reading. Recently, however, I
discovered that because I was a teacher in a small town, I wasn’t
comfortable saying too much that dealt with sex or anything too
adult-related. I guess I cared what my middle schoolers would think. So I
thought: why not write for them? My new trilogy is awesome for anyone
12 and up. Now I can sleep at night!! J (And I can let my mom read it!!)

4. What is your latest book?

My latest book is called Where Darkness Walks; it is the first book
of my Mortgatha Trilogy. I’m really happy with it. It’s the first truly
Young Adult book I’ve written. I kept asking myself what I’d seen my
students read. That’s what I wanted to write.

5. "Welcome To My Worlds": Tell us a little about the world of your latest book.

The
story begins in our Earth world, but soon Clarie finds herself being
shoved against a set of dark, magic doors into the shadow realm of
Mortgatha. In some ways, it’s very Earth-like, but there are a lot of
scary things about it. Mortgatha has been taken over by the Darkness,
which has done everything in its power to extinguish the Light. There
are not only scary animals, but dark entities that pester her and try to
take Clarie’s life. Many of the “bad guys” are not actual characters
that she can see, but still try to hurt her and take the Light away from
her. The sun is never bright, the stars are too timid to shine, the
moon rarely appears. It’s like living in smog.

6. Introduce us to some of your characters. What do you like about them?

The
main character is Clarie Perl. She is sixteen and very sweet. I like
her because she has a good relationship with her dad, she is loyal not
only to the people she knows but also to the Earth world.

Patrick
is the main minor character. He picks Clarie up when she is dumped by
her boyfriend and, like Clarie, is very loyal. He is romantically
interested in Clarie. He bullies his way through the dark doors in an
attempt to “rescue” her.

The third
main minor character is Joseph. He is a resident of Mortgatha, but is
from the Earth world. He loves Clarie, to Patrick’s annoyance.

7. A fun fact you would like your readers to know about you or your book.

Imagine what it would be like to own your very own flying carpet… I know I want one!

8. Blog/site link, and where your book is available.

My
book will be available on Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, Smashwords,
iTunes, or wherever eBooks are sold, plus on some sites it will be
offered in paperback. You will also be able to find it and link to it on
my website: http://donnahawk.net/

Where Darkness Walks (Mortgatha Trilogy Book 1) By Donna Hawk

Clarie’s
world is about to change for the darker. Rand broke up with her at the
prom, she uncovers a secret in the hidden back of an armoire, and she
meets Patrick, who is determined to help her forget her broken heart.

As
Clarie evades classmate Bulldog’s stalking, she and Patrick explore the
dark halls of an abandoned cement plant. After following Clarie and
Patrick deep inside the cement plant, Bulldog confronts Clarie as he
fights with Patrick. When she is accidentally pushed against a set of
dark doors into the shadow realm of Mortgatha, everything she fears is
set into motion to keep her away from her beloved Earth world.

Even
with Patrick’s help, the doorway home moves randomly, evil characters
beset them at every turn, and the way home seems farther away than ever.

I
have been a teacher in Kansas for 33 years. I enjoy writing, riding my
bicycle, and spending time with my husband. I am an avid photographer
and Photoshop user. Currently, I am working on a dark trilogy for young
adults, the first of which I am hoping will be completed by the end of
the summer 2013.If you have any questions for me, you can email me at: bydonnahawk@gmail.com

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Earlier
this month, I got an email from an old college friend asking if my
books are suitable for a couple of teenage girls in her life. I also had
the opportunity to lend my proof copy of Urdaisuniato
a good friend of mine, who also happens to be the wife of our current
clergyman (in our church, the leaders of the congregation are drawn from
the membership and rotated about every 5-7 years). These incidents,
along with a discussion on my Goodreads group about content and age
appropriateness got me thinking that I should do a post about content
and age appropriateness of my books, as a guide for anyone who might be
concerned about that.

To establish some
context, I'll start by saying that when I was growing up, my parents
told me that none of the books in the house were off-limits to me, and
if I had any questions about anything I read I was welcome to bring it
up with them. I think I was about 11 or 12 at the time. Of course, being
the upright, church-going people that they are, my parents
didn't have any pornography or anything like that in the house, but they
did buy a regular supply of the current best-sellers, with all that
entails. The first book I read with my newly-granted freedom (or maybe
this was the book that inspired that conversation) was The Poseidon Adventure.
The original movie had come out not long before, and the theme song
from the movie was a big hit on Top 40 radio, so I was curious. Anyway, I
grew up with the idea that, with proper parental involvement, teens
should have few if any restrictions placed on what they read.

Of
course, now, erotica and books with very explicit sex scenes are a lot
more mainstream than they used to be, and I wouldn't be wild about the
idea of my own teens reading those. So I'll agree that parents, and
anyone who doesn't care to read explicit material, need to exercise more
caution now than maybe they used to.

Sex isn't the
only concern in deciding the appropriateness of reading material.
Graphic violence is something that many parents and readers are
concerned about; along with, at least for me, the cause served by the
violence. I'm less bothered by reading about a villain being graphically
and colorfully disposed of than I would be if the same methods were
used against a hero, innocent bystander, child, or animal. Strong
language bothers some people. Readers and parents might also object to
what they consider sacrilegious content. A handful of f-bombs in a book
doesn't bother me, but I've been known to put a book down because of
light or disrespectful treatment of matters that are sacred to me. Some
people might not like to see people of certain genders or races
portrayed in certain ways. Some people might object to a specific
political slant. The exact definition of what's offensive or inappropriate is different for everyone. As another example,
I'm presently reading a fantasy novel that I believe is generally
considered "clean," although it contains at least one fairly intense
scene of near-rape, and I'm left wondering why near-rape is considered
less objectionable than consummated lovemaking, just because the act
isn't completed.

Anyway, the list goes on and
on, and the consensus among writers is that you can't please everyone,
you're bound to end up offending someone, and the best and only thing a
writer can do is to write as honestly as he/she can.

So, to the point. How would I rate my books as far as age-appropriateness and offensive content?

My books feature adult characters, with adult lives and concerns, and contain "mature themes and situations," including
sex and relationships, earning a living, death, war, sacrifice, and the
struggle against evil forces that disrupt their world. A
principle I try to follow in my writing is that everything in the story
is there because it's needed. (I'm not perfect at this, but it's what I
aspire to.) The corollary to that is, if something needs to
be in the story, I put it in. If some important story or character
development requires a sex scene, I put in a sex scene, though I leave
out any description that isn't important to the point I'm trying to
make. On the other hand, if some detail of the act is important, I'll
include that - but still in the least graphic manner that still gets the
job done. My aim is never to titillate the reader - I don't want the
reader to be pulled out of the story by thinking about their own
reaction to what I've written, I want them to be engrossed in what's
happening with the characters (this applies to everything I write, not
just sex scenes). On the other hand, if the important character and
story business take place before the sex scene, I'll draw the curtain.
In Urdaisunia, we don't need to know what Prince Eruz does with
his three concubines (no, seriously, we don't); what we need to know is
the desperate state of mind he's in that drives him to seek comfort
that way.

Same thing with violence. Prince Eruz has to
execute some people. The important thing is what's going on inside
Eruz's head as he is forced to carry out these executions, not graphic
descriptions of the actual deaths, so that's where the focus is in the writing. In Lost Book of Anggird,
a couple of reprehensible people are killed in a particularly grisly
way as punishment for their misdeeds; the act of carrying out the
killings is cathartic to the person who does it, as well as
demonstrating the extreme state of mind that character is in, so I focus
on that in the writing and not on the (literally) gory details.

Language:
I try to use restraint in the use of strong or offensive language,
because it loses its impact if it's overused. (A personal line for me is
not to use religious oaths that apply in our world; on the other hand,
characters in an invented world using oaths that reference invented gods
aren't a problem for me.) Again, if it's necessary to communicate what
the character is experiencing, or if the use of strong language is
appropriate to how the character would speak in a given situation, I'll
put in just what's necessary. There's a bit of language in Urdaisunia
that's rougher than I would normally use, but it's coming from a
thoroughly bad person who is purposely being as insulting and offensive
as possible. Anything milder in that situation would have sounded silly.

And
so on. In general, I try to put in what the story requires to be told
honestly and completely, without going overboard, and certainly without
any intent to purposely shock, offend, or titillate.

If you want something more concrete, here is where I rate my books on a couple of different scales:

On the All-Romance Ebooks Heat Rating scale, from 1 - 5 flames, I rate my books a 2: "some
[consummated] love scenes. These will be more sensual than graphic and
will mostly rely on euphemism." Some parts might edge up just a bit to a
low 3, with slightly more graphic description. My short stories run
from 0 - 1 flame.

As
far as age recommendations go, my books are definitely not for
children. Also not for young teens. As far as older teens go, my books
don't fit into the currently-popular Young Adult category, mainly
because they have adult rather than teenage main characters and address
adult concerns rather than the typical coming-of-age themes usually
addressed in YA books, and also may have somewhat more graphic content
(though my understanding is that there are plenty of YA books with
intense and disturbing content, that address serious issues of sex,
drugs, abuse, and so on). Based on my own experience at that age -
there wasn't a YA category back then, or if there was it wasn't nearly
as prevalent as it is now, and when you were in high school you went
from reading middle grade/young teen books to adult books - I think my
books are suitable for ages 16 and up. I wouldn't have a problem with my
17-year-old reading them (aside from the embarrassment factor of kid
reading love scenes written by his mom!) I mean, really, I'm not exactly
writing 50 Shades here.

But, ultimately, the
appropriateness of my books is not a decision I'm qualified to make for
other parents - or any other reader, period. I hope the information in
this post will give readers and parents the information they need to
make the right decision for themselves.

Friday, May 24, 2013

"I
Kissed a Ghost" is a novel of first love combined with a ghost story.
It's positioned as YA, but it reads more for a younger audience, I'd say
4th-8th grade. Mary and her friends are just discovering that boys
aren't quite as icky as they thought, and that kissing one might be fun.
But soon after Mary's first tentative experience with having a
boyfriend, her family moves and she's afraid she'll never find another
boy like the one she left behind. Or will she?

There's a ghost
living in her family's new house, and Mary soon finds herself living two
lives - partly her modern-day life and partly the life of a girl in the
early 20th century. She also struggles to find friends at her new
school, and when she does they refuse to come to her house to play
because, they say, the house is haunted. They think they're only teasing
her; little do they know!

The style seems a little distant and
formal; a lot of the story is told in narrative summary, where showing
more of it through action would give it a more immediate feel and
livelier pace. Also, although an editor is credited, the book could use a
really thorough editing pass to correct misplaced words, incorrect
tenses, and a few punctuation problems.

Overall, "I Kissed a
Ghost" is a tender and sweet story about a girl beginning to make the
emotional adjustment from childhood to adolescence and about her ghost's
surprisingly poignant mystery.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Last
week I had the opportunity to speak to three wonderful artists who I
found on deviantArt.com about commissioning cover art for Daughter of the Wildings.
I was very pleasantly surprised with what I was able to afford, with
the end result being that not only am I able to get custom cover art for
the Daughter of the Wildings series, I can also get a better cover than the one I made myself for Chosen of Azara!
I'm not going to go into which artist/s I ended up commissioning
(that'll be revealed when I post the covers) or why (that's between me
and them, except it was a very difficult decision and a lot of it came
down to the looks I wanted for the different projects and the needs of
my budget) or how much I'm paying (that's confidential), but I will say
that based on my interactions with them so far, I would absolutely
recommend any of the three to other writers who are looking for cover
artists.

Also,
some authors I read have some new stuff out. The fabulous Camille
LaGuire, whose Mick and Casey westerns I really enjoy, is posting a new
serial, The Case of the Misplaced Baronness. This one is set in her roughly "silent-movie era" alternate universe and features the indomitable Lady
Pauline Anne Marie Tritt-Woolsey Beethingham Smythe, Baroness of
Beethingham, aka "Plink." There's something of a Jeeves-and-Woosterish
vibe to this, so if you're a Jeeves and Wooster fan (which I am), you'll
enjoy this.

And Forged in Blood, Part 1, the first part of Book 6 of the Emperor's Edge series by Lindsay Buroker is out.
I've really been enjoying this series, and could hardly wait for this
book (and can hardly wait for part 2, due out later this summer). Each
book is partly in the point of view of a different member of the
Emperor's Edge team, and in this last book (or pair of books) we finally
get inside the head of Sicarius, the inscrutable yet sexy assassin. And
it's a very interesting place to be, indeed. I'm an incurable
end-peeker (it's harder to peek at the end with e-books, which I don't
know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I still manage it if I
really can't stand the suspense) and it looks like this one ends with a
doozy of a cliffhanger. Just makes the anticipation of the last book all
the more sweet! I've also enjoyed the Encrypted/Decrypted duology set
in the same world as the Emperor's Edge books.

Finally, I want to mention The Norothian Cycle, by M. Edward McNally, yet another amazing independent author. I read the first book, The Sable City, not long ago, and went through it like a box of chocolates. Highly recommended, and I can't wait to read the rest of the series - after I finish Forged in Blood 1
and some Read and Review books for my Goodreads group. Since I started
exploring books by independent writers a little more than a year and a
half ago (about the time I was considering taking the leap into
self-publishing myself), my to-read list, as evidenced by the number of
samples on my Kindle, has been growing at an alarming rate. So many
fresh voices and exciting books, so little time!

One more
thing: Here's a shout-out to this week's Paranormal, Fantasy, Dystopia,
and Romance Writers and Reviewers group featured author, Donna Hawk! I will be hosting Donna next week as part of her blog tour with Saskia Book Tours, and I'm looking forward to it very much.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Today I'd like to introduce you to Sharon Stevenson, author of the Gallows series.

1. Tell us a little about yourself.I'm married to a man who makes me laugh. I love reading and watching TV and I enjoy a wide variety of genres for both.

2. When did you start writing, and why?I
was maybe five years old when I started writing and I did it because I
liked it. I think it started with weekend diaries at school. Whatever
I'd actually done wasn't as interesting as what I could make up!

3. What do you write, and why? What do you enjoy about what you write?I
write adult modern fantasy, or urban fantasy in a non-urban setting.
Urban Fantasy is a favourite genre of mine to read so writing this type
of series came easily enough! I like books to be entertaining and my
imagination gets to run wild in a fantasy setting.

4. What is your latest book? Any forthcoming books?'Fate
Fallen', the third book in my Gallows series, just came out at the
start of May. I'm in the editing stages with an urban fantasy / dark
comedy novella about reanimation, titled 'Raised'. I hope to release it
in the next few months.

5. "Welcome To My Worlds": Tell us a little about the world of your latest book.The
Gallows novels are set in an alternate reality Scotland, complete with
fictional towns and as many supernatural creatures as I could cram in!
Descendants of fallen angels work as demon trackers and demons roam the
earth in the form of vampires.

6. Introduce us to some of your characters. What do you like about them?Shaun
is sarcastic, a bit moody, and reluctant but his heart's in the right
place. Sarah is a pretty determined and caring kind of person even if
she tends towards reckless behaviour. I enjoy flawed characters so
that's the kind I like to write about!

7. A fun fact you would like your readers to know about you or your book.I tend to listen to music while I write. I listened to Twin Atlantic CD's while I was writing the Gallows novels.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Science
fantasy, futuristic fantasy, whatever you want to call it, if you like
magic and high tech together, you'll enjoy this. Sorcerers and ancient
prophecies, whiz-bang hardware and space battles, and a human story of
love, loss, ambition, friendship, and vengeance all come together in
this story about Grogaan, a talented young starfighter pilot. We follow
Grogaan as he deals with the loss of three of the most important people
in his life, including his beloved fiancee Miranda, through his search
for vengeance against the raiders who killed them, and then as he begins
to realize he has an even greater destiny.

The style is somewhat
formal, and the book is written in the omniscient viewpoint (that is, a
distant, all-knowing narrator) rather than the more familiar 3rd-person
limited (the story being told from inside the viewpoint of one
character at a time). This is a legitimate stylistic choice, but some
readers might find it makes it harder for them to become engaged in the
book. To these readers I'd say, stick with it, it gets easier.

Also,
there's quite a bit of explanation of characters' thoughts, emotions,
and motivations, as well as information about the (well-developed)
world. The author is adept enough at using action and dialogue to show
what we need to know about the world and the characters' thoughts and
emotions that a lot of the additional explanation isn't necessary. Even
so, the story moves forward at a good pace. The space battles are
particularly well-written; I was able to clearly visualize the action,
and found myself reading quickly to find out if Grogaan and his friends
made it through safely.

Overall, this is a fun, exciting book,
and I understand that the next books in the series are even better, so I
look forward to reading them.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Here's another Book Extra for Chosen of Azara: the cast of characters.
It's a little tricky to do a character list for this book in a
non-spoilery fashion. The novel covers three distinct story arcs, over
separate periods of time. Some characters appear in all three arcs,
sometimes under different names, and other characters come and go. There
are also some family relationships that might constitute spoilers. So
instead of listing the characters by story arc, I've just put them by
nationality, without spoilery family trees and alternate names.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

1. Tell us a little about yourself.My
name is Jen and I'm a lunatic. No lie. I'm crazy, inappropriate,
warped. I "lie" for a living, and I love it! I'm a wife, a mother, a
daughter, a friend, a dog owner, and a super spy. Oops--I didn't mean to
say that. Now I'm gonna have to kill ya. Sorry. My bad.

2. When did you start writing, and why?I
have written all of my life. As to the why, it's always been a part of
me--it's like breathing. I couldn't exist and not write.

3. What do you write, and why?What do you enjoy about what you write? I
write a little bit of everything--short stories, poetry, various genres
of fiction. I haven't tried nonfiction yet, but I'm always open to
trying new things! (That to say, it's always a possibility!) I like to
switch things up, and it's challenging to attempt different things.
Sometimes it's a flop, sometimes it's brilliance--but every time, it's
fun! I enjoy writing, period!

4. What is your latest book? Any forthcoming books?My
currently released book is The Healing Heart. My work-in-progress is
entitled The Steps to Karma. I also have a secret work-in-progress, as
well. It's a collaboration, and I'm EXTREMELY excited about it!

5. "Welcome To My Worlds": Tell us a little about the world of your latest book. The
Steps to Karma is set in our world, mostly on the island of St. John,
USVI. I absolutely liken Caribbean island life to a magical world. The
scenery, the colors, the environment, the weather---purely magical! In
my book, I hope my descriptions do it justice!

6. Introduce us to some of your characters. What do you like about them? My
protagonist is named Karma Clark. She's a burnt out D.C. divorce
attorney who has some MAJOR issues and decisions to make! She's strong,
emotionally pent up, a hot mess! My favorite character, though, is Jae
Jourdain. She's 1/4 Thai, raised by her NOLA Creole Grammy, tattooed,
dread locked, a hippie chick, and FUN! She interjects Cajun French
phrases into her regular conversation--which throws Karma for a loop, at
first. And she is the antithesis of 'emotionally pent-up'--which is
GREAT to me!

7. A fun fact you would like your readers to know about you or your book: I have travelled to St. John twice, my last trip being business and pleasure, research and vacation. I hope it shows in my book!

8. Blog/site link, and where your book is available: My website is http://www.jennifer-howard.net.
My blog is there, as well as descriptions and links to my currently
published book, The Healing Heart, short stories, featured indie
authors, and a sneak peek of The Steps to Karma. It's fun! The Healing
Heart is available for sale on Amazon.com: amzn.to/YdGBsR, Barnes and Noble.com: bit.ly/ZjX7bO and on iTunes: bit.ly/16wdUvY

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The feedback from the test readers on The Lost Book of Anggirdis
in, and it's awesome. Lots of love for the book, and also some good
suggestions for making it even better. So I'm mulling all that over, and
in the meantime I'm going full-in on finishing up revisions on Chosen of Azara and getting it ready for release in June.

Chosen of Azara is set in a world that I started making up years ago. I don't remember how long ago, and I don't think Chosen is even the first story I set in that world. "A Cure for Nel,"
one of the stories in the collection of the same name, is set in the
same world, as are the two longer short stories I wrote in March and
some other unfinished novels/story fragments.

I do remember
how I started developing this world. I was bored one day, so I bought a
box of crayons, the box with 64 different colors and a built-in
sharpener. You can buy boxes with even more colors than that now, but at
the time that was the deluxe box. Then I got out a big piece of cheap
kid's drawing paper and started drawing this landmass. I wanted it to
have deserts and hills and mountains and rivers and swampy areas and a
large inland sea and all kinds of cool stuff. Mostly, I designed it
around Sources, which I imagined as natural features that served as
sources of magical power. A Source can be a hill or mountain, a cave, a
place where two rivers flow together, a water spout or rocky ocean cove,
an ancient tree, a spring or lake, a fjord, or any other kind of
distinctive natural feature.

And I named it
SourceWorld. Which is descriptive, but not very organic - that is, it
doesn't sound like something that the people living there would
naturally call it. It's an externally-imposed name. So I got out my
word-making-up-fu (checked the word-origins section of my huge old
American Heritage dictionary and mixed some stuff from that together
with some names I came up with on a fantasy name generator) and ta-daa,
Estelend was born.

The idea with magic in Estelend
is that naturally-occuring heavenly and earthly magical powers are
combined and flow through the Sources. Where the Source is, what kind of
natural feature it's located in, and what sort of people gravitate to
that Source all affect the kind of power it is, good, not so good,
useful for healing or prophecy or other stuff, and so on. Certain people
are born with an ability to take in Source-power and use it.
Other people who aren't born with the ability can have it forced into
them. A very few people are born perfectly attuned to the power of a
certain Source, and their lives depend on having constant access to
power from that Source. Bringing together a person and a Source that are
incompatible, or committing certain acts within a Source (such as
bloodshed) can taint or even destroy the Source.

So I
started marking in the Sources, and the countries, and figuring out
allies and enemies and the different characteristics of the people and
places on this huge continent, and how the magic works, and stories
started to grow. I don't know if you can really call them a series,
since they are all stand-alone, with different characters in different
places, but they definitely go together. Chosen of Azara was
posted on an old website I had for many years, and now I'm excited to be
able to write and share more of the stories that my world of Estelend
has given birth to. (Kanyev the Source-Fixer has been waiting
impatiently for his day in the sun for a long time now. I promise,
buddy, your time is coming.)

There's a quick introduction to the world of Chosen of Azara,
"A Cure for Nel," the tales of Haveshi Yellowcrow and Latan the
Scholar, and more. Oh, and if you have a fantasy world, you have to have
a map, and here it is.
This is an improved drawing I did based on the original, and doctored
up in the image editing program I had two computers ago. I don't seem to
have the dingbat any more that I was using to mark cities, so as I add
more cities I guess I'll have to find something else to mark them with.
But that's ok. Better to have a world that continues to grow and develop
than to have it become static for lack of a dingbat.

Monday, May 13, 2013

I'm
excited to add another new feature to the blog: author spotlight
interviews. It was so much fun to be interviewed during my week as the PFDRWRG
featured author that I decided to continue the fun by also hosting some
interviews! I'll start with other featured authors from the group, and
I'll also be acting as a blog host for Saskia Book Tours. From there
I'll also branch out into other authors I want to introduce to my blog
visitors.

First up is Kristen DaRay, whose book Gemini of Emreiana I reviewed here.

1. Tell us a little about yourself:I
am 21 years old, live in Alabama, and completely love reading and
writing. I enjoy watching Korean Drama's and playing Sims 3 along with
writing Sims stories.

2. When did you start writing, and why?I
started writing my first novel when I was 15. As far as writing in
general since the 6th grade, 12. I started writing after I won a
contest in our county for an essay. It even placed second in the state. I
was so proud of my achievement that I wanted to pursue it. It wasn't
until I was 15 that I realized that I really enjoyed the fantasy world
and had some great ideas of my own. 3. What do you write, and why? What do you enjoy about what you write?Right
now I am interested in writing YA science fiction. I integrate some
romance in it, but I like having a major story within it, not focusing
on the romantic side. To me, this builds the characters a lot more and I
can see and watch them grow.

4. What is your latest book? Any forthcoming books?My
latest, and first, book was Gemini of Emreiana. Carson finds out that
her life is a lie, and that she is an alien princess. She will have to
make difficult choices, including leaving behind her friends and
boyfriend, Kyle. However, Emreiana's war with the Bremoir seem to
impact her decision.

Right now I am working on wrapping up the
sequel to the Gemini series, Gemini the Heir. Carson is adjusting to
life on Emreiana, but now the war isn't her only problem. Some of the
other leaders in Emreiana do not see her fit to take the crown. Book two
is full of twists and surprises, though.

5. "Welcome To My Worlds": Tell us a little about the world of your latest book:Emreiana
is a planet within the Volva solar system. They are at war with the
Bremoir, species to planet Helentania. Emreiana is mostly a tropical
planet. The areas around its poles is extremely barren and cold. It is
full of new animals, such as drazen, and plant life, such as illimor.

6. Introduce us to some of your characters. What do you like about them?Carson,
also known as Lenai Carsona, is our heroine. She was born in Emreiana
as an heir to the throne. However, the Bremoir see her as a threat
because of a prophecy they have. So she was sent to Earth to be
protected from the Bremoir. 18 years later she learns of her past and
has to make a decision to leave. But, it's hard for her because she is
living the dream life with her friends and boyfriend Kyle.

I like
Carson because while she has a reason to be upset with the situation,
in the end she handles it like a true Lenai, princess. She is wiling to
put her feelings aside so that she can keep her friends safe. That is a
hard decision for someone to make.

7. A fun fact you would like your readers to know about you or your book:A
fun fact about Gemini of Emreina would be that the first chapter
changed five times before I settled. The original was completely
different. Then halfway through the book, I decided I didn't like it so I
changed it about twice. Then when I finished writing, I realized there
were a few things that didn't measure up so I rewrote it another two
times.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Another
wonderful installment in the "Dream" series. In "Dream Doctor," Book 2
of the series, Sara and Brian are newlyweds and Sara is beginning
medical school, after a long recovery from the trauma of her previous
experience of being inside a serial killer's dreams and racing to catch
the killer. Now the dreams have come back, and this time Sara realizes
that one of her professors is being threatened. The question is, who is
trying to kill him? Or rather, who ISN'T interested in seeing him dead?

In
the first book, "Dream Student," I was a little confused by the balance
between the school, romance, and mystery storylines; I wasn't quite
sure which of those the book was mainly supposed to be. In "Dream
Doctor," either the balance between school, relationships, and mystery
has been adjusted a little, or I was just better prepared for the
genre-crossing. In any case, I found myself equally drawn in by all
three story lines: Will Sara and her classmates survive their first
months of med school? Will Sara and Brian's marriage survive crazy
schedules and the new people they're meeting? Will Sara's professor
survive the attempt on his life? On all counts, the book comes to an
emotionally satisfying conclusion. The writing style is smooth and
assured, and the characters and their world are drawn clearly and
vividly.

I'm enjoying the "Dream" series very much, and look forward to reading the next installment, "Dream Child."

Friday, May 10, 2013

I mentioned before (on my blog,
and in comments on a couple of other blogs) that I have Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome. I've had it for nearly six years now, and finally, after
years of doctors dancing around the subject and not knowing what was
wrong with me (I knew; it was obvious; you look up Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome on any website dedicated to the subject and I'm a textbook
case) I got a diagnosis a year ago. As much as you can get a definitive
diagnosis for this: they take a complete history, take down all of your
symptoms, do all the tests to rule out anything else that could be
causing the fatigue and other symptoms, then if your history and
symptoms are consistent with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and they can't
find anything else going on, then you most likely have CFS. It's a
frustrating condition; there's no definitive medical test, no effective
medical treatment, no cure. And a lot of doctors don't really even
believe it exists. I've dealt with that way more than I should have to,
and before I start ranting, I'll just move on with this post.

The
only thing you can really do about CFS is to manage it with lifestyle
management techniques. I was going to call this post "Living and Writing
with CFS," but I still haven't got the "living" part down yet. I do
have a program I'm supposed to be following - Mediterranean diet for its
anti-inflammatory properties (I hate fish :( ), carefully managed
exercise (with CFS, more exercise does not give you more energy;
more exercise leaves you unable to get out of bed for a week), plenty of
bed rest, supplements recommended by my doctor, and some other things I
want to try. But it's hard to follow a program when you're stumbling
around in a fog of exhaustion all the time, so I've got a lot of work to
do on that. I'm not the person to be giving other people advice on
living with and managing CFS.

What this post IS about is writing with CFS. Someone who saw my comment on CFS and productivity on another blog (Dean Wesley Smith's,
I think) wrote to me and asked if I'd written about my difficulties
with being productive while having CFS. I hadn't, but I am now. The
thing is, I've been pleasantly surprised by how productive I'm able to
be considering my condition.

The thing about CFS is
it doesn't just cause physical fatigue. It also causes, among myriad
other symptoms, mental fatigue, known as "brain fog." Memory problems,
confusion, and difficulty concentrating are all part of this.
Which, as you can imagine, makes any sort of sustained
mental/intellectual work kind of difficult. But for a long time now,
I've been able to maintain a writing schedule of about two hours a day
nearly every day, which, considering the levels of exhaustion I have, is
pretty good. And in recent months, I've seen that time creeping up to
three hours a day. Not that I've been feeling better overall - I haven't
- but I seem to have fallen into some habits that have helped increase
my productivity. When I got that question last week, I started thinking
about how I've managed to become more productive in spite of CFS, and
came up with some ideas.

1. It really helps to break my
writing hours up into smaller chunks of time, maybe 30-45 minutes or so,
instead of working for two hours straight. As with physical activity,
I've found that working in shorter periods of time and then taking a
break actually allows me to be active a greater total number of hours. Also, find the times of day that work best for you, and protect these times as much as possible.

2.
Find the writing process that works easiest and most naturally for you.
Planner? Not a planner? Some of each? Write straight through or edit as
you go? Writing software (another post for another time), Word, pen and
paper? Concentrate on one project at a time or have a couple of
different things you're working on? Whatever comes most easily to you,
whatever makes you not have to burn energy fighting to follow the
process, is the way you should write, no matter what way anyone else
says is best. And be willing to change your process as you feel you need
to, and as your current project demands.

3. Find
ways to streamline the writing/editing process. Again, this is personal,
but if you're going to produce books on any kind of schedule, you don't
want to be taking a year or two to write a novel and another year or
two to revise and edit it. Figure out the writing process that will help
you get words written on a regular basis, and then if you revise and
edit (some people don't; some people do their editing the first time
around), find ways to cut down on the number of editing passes you need,
which will cut revising/editing time from many months to a lot fewer
months. I've recommended this before, and I will again: Holly Lisle's How To Revise Your Novel
course is a great approach to adressing the major issues in your
manuscript in one go and and getting that book out the door a lot
faster. Don't "polish till it gleams" as the saying goes; this
takes forever and has the tendency to strip away everything that's
interesting and unique and YOU about the book. And don't go twenty
rounds with your critique group on it, because then you end up with
THEIR book written by committee (bleh) instead of YOUR book. My general
philosophy on making shorter work of revising and editing is don't
revise the story to death, and don't waste time revising to other
people's rules or ideas of what your story should be. Get it good and
get it out the door, and get to work on the next one.

4.
Know when to call it quits for the day. There comes a time when the
brain fog is thickening and most of what's coming out on the page (or
the screen) is blathering. You're not doing any good, so even if you
still have words or pages or time left to go on your daily quota, pack
it in and get some rest. (This is also a REALLY GOOD TIME to get off the
Internet, before you embarrass yourself. Which I sometimes have trouble
remembering :-P)

5. Take care of yourself in
general. Do what you can to follow your management program, if you have
one. Get that few minutes of exercise. Get enough bed rest. Sleep is a
big problem with CFS. A lot of time you don't sleep well, and even if
you do, you wake up feeling like you didn't sleep at all. But being in
bed resting is still better than being up, even if you can't sleep. I do
best with ten hours a night of bed rest, whether I'm asleep or lying in
bed reading. To figure out how much bed rest you need, go to bed at
night then don't get up in the morning until you can do so without
feeling like you're dragging a mountain out of bed with you. See how
many hours that was; if you can do that every night, it does help. I
also feel better if I'm eating a high fiber, fresh, fairly light
diet and am careful not to overeat. (Another big IF; with so little
energy, it's hard to cook like that on a daily basis.)

6.
Stress burns a lot of energy, so find ways to manage stress. Meditation,
or just letting your mind go blank while you listen to relaxing music;
I've heard the yoga and tai chi are good but haven't tried them (mean
to, just haven't gotten the spark of energy to try something new and
different), eliminate unnecessary stress. Especially, don't spend energy
comparing yourself and your productivity levels to other
writers, and don't spend energy trying to do things that don't work for
you. Find what works best for you, and be grateful you can do anything
at all, because there's always someone even worse off.

So,
how productive am I, doing (or trying to do) these things? Well, since
last November I've written one full-length novel draft, two novellas,
two longer short stories, and three short-shorts. I finished editing and
released one novel and one short story collection for sale, have
another novel coming up for release in June, am working on edits on a
novel that will hopefully be ready for release in October or
thereabouts, and have also been getting the short stories edited and
ready to post and release for sale. So, basically, I've increased my
writing inventory by somewhere upwards of 140,000 words in the last six
months and will have released 5 works for sale this year (3 novels and 2
short story collections.) So, not bad, not on the level of some really
prolific authors, but enough to be able to start making a career of
this. If you can do more than this, awesome. If you can't do this much,
that's fine too. Do the best you can, and take satisfaction in knowing
that you're doing the best you can, which is all any of us can do and a
lot more than a lot of people ever do.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

In the comments on my last post, Chris Kelworth
nominated me for a Liebster award! This is a just-for-fun award, a way
to highlight some favorite blogs and bloggers and show them a little
love. Here's how it works:

I answer 11 questions from the person who tagged meI share 11 facts about meI pass the Liebster on to 11 favorite blogsI come up with 11 new questions for my nominees to answer.

Are you more of a planner, or a spontaneous person?Planner. I don't do well when unexpected things come up or I don't know what to expect.

Are you organized or messy?On the spectrum, I'm more on the messy side, but I'm slowly trying to work my way towards the organized side.

Who's the best character you've ever written and why?All
of them :-D I can't pick favorites, it's like picking my favorite of my
kids. But lately Professor Roric Rossony has been getting a lot of love
from the test readers for The Lost Book of Anggird. He's a very
interesting, complicated character, with lots more to him than meets the
eye at first - in fact, his reality is very different from the
appearance he puts up.

If you had one day left to live, what's one thing you'd want to spend that time on? I'd split it between writing and spiritual devotions, with my family around me the whole time.

Who is the most important person in your life?God, and my husband and kids.

Are you working on anything writing-wise at the moment, or taking a post-Camp break?Always
writing - right now I'm working on revisions/edits to two different
novels, with a couple of short stories also waiting to be edited.

What catchphrase do you say often in conversation?Don't know about a specific catchphrase, but I do tend to repeat myself a lot, which annoys me and the people I'm talking to.

Out of your favourite fictional characters, who'd make the best sneaky ninja?My
characters? or other characters that I like? Out of my characters, I'm
not sure that sneakiness is a strong point for any of them. Probably
Silas Vendine, though if he gets annoyed with the person he's stalking
he'd give his cover away by cussing them out. For other characters, I'd
have to say Himura Kenshin, from Rurouni Kenshin. He's already a sneaky
samurai, which is just one step away from sneaky ninja.

Where are your backup files?On a portable external hard drive, a couple of thumb drives, and on Sugar Sync, Dropbox, and Google Drive.

Do you believe in true love?Yes :) I write about it, and I'm fortunate to have that in my marriage.

11 facts about me:1. I had sour cream green chili chicken enchiladas for lunch.2. My favorite color is purple.3. Right now I'm reading three different novels.4. I have two cats.5. I'm 5'2" tall.6. My kids were born seven years minus one day apart.7. I lived in Germany for a year when I was eight and again when I was sixteen.8. I have a Master's degree in Music History.9. When I was little, my favorite babysitter's name was Kathy.10. I used to play the recorder.11. I've never watched Oprah.

1. What's your favorite book?2. What's the latest book you've read?3. What did you have for breakfast?4. Chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry, or none (or all) of the above?5. Where would you go on your dream vacation?6. What was your favorite subject in school?7. The zombie apocolaypse is here, and you grab the object immediately to your left to use to defend yourself. What is it?8. Night owl or morning person?9. Who is your favorite villain (from your own characters or other people's characters)?10. What do you do when you aren't reading or writing?11. What's your computer wallpaper?

The longer, and hopefully more interesting answer is:
When I'm reading a novel and come across a character of a fantasy race
(elves, fairies, dwarves, etc.) I almost always find myself asking, "Why
isn't this character human? What makes this character something besides
a human with heightened senses/love of nature/pointy ears/superior
attitude or short/has a beard/likes beer/lives underground?" I find
humans fascinating. They come in an endless variety of physical types,
temperaments, talents, prejudices, emotions, desires, abilities,
habitats, backgrounds, beliefs, and so on. I've found enough to write
about just with humans as characters (and, ok, gods here and there, but
there's good reasons why gods are gods) without adding the artificial
differences of designating them as "elves" or "dwarves" or whatever. If
there are going to be different races, for me there has to be a
significant reason that matters to the story why those characters cannot
be any sort of human.

The best example of this I've ever read is the Danae in the Flesh and Spirit/Breath and Bone duology by Carol Berg.
The Danae are an elvish/fae-like race with a superficial resemblance to
humans. However, everything from their physiology to their ways of
interacting with and affecting their world are completely alien.
(Although their biology is close enough to allow them to interbreed with
humans.) Their stages of growth are marked by increases in magical
abilities, and the appearance of really cool glowing blue tattoo-like
markings on their bodies. Their way of getting around their world and
ours is not limited by things like physical location and distance but
relies more on the resemblances between one place and another. Their
magic is based on dance, and their dances have a very real effect on
their world and the human world. And the list of fundamental things that
make the Danae who they are and not human goes on and on. Their very
unhumanness (yes, that's a word, I'm a writer and I used it, that makes
it a word) is a pivotal point in the story and has a profound effect on
the main character.

Another of my favorite example of the use of fantasy races is in The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams.
I read this a number of years ago and don't remember a whole lot about
it, but I do remember that the differences between humans and the
various fantasy races in the book went a lot deeper than just name,
appearances, and general outlook on life.

If I ever write a
story where it's essential to have a character that is non-human on a
very deep, fundamental level, that has differences from humans that go
beyond the wide variety of characteristics that humans already display,
then I'll do that. But so far, just plain old humans have been keeping
me plenty busy.

But what about dragons? They're
clearly not just humans that are lizard-shaped, scaley, have wings, and
breathe fire. But a lot of other people have written about dragons, and
written about them far better than I ever could, so I don't really feel
like that's something I need to push myself to do. If I ever have a story idea that requires a dragon, I'll use a dragon. But so far I haven't.

My favorite stories with dragons? A Wizard of Earthseaand The Farthest Shore
by Ursula K. LeGuin. Great dragons, not at all pets or just dragony
humans, but with their own history and way of looking at life and the
world. I also enjoyed Song of the Beast, by Carol Berg. (btw, everything Carol Berg writes is awesome. You should read it.) (also btw, an older edition of A Wizard of Earthsea has one of the worst covers I've ever seen. Go check it out if you dare, but remember, what has been seen cannot be un-seen.)

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The second of the three weird short-shorts I wrote in March is now available on the site: Mistress of the Mirror.
The story prompt for this one was: a poor woman with a mirror runs
afoul of an assassin. It will be available for free here on my site
until I have enough stories to do another collection, at which time
it'll come down and the collection will go into the Amazon KDP Select
program for a while.

I schedule my writing projects by the
month, so the beginning of the month is a good time to look back and
forward. I successfully completed my April goals, writing the first
draft of Book 3 of Daughter of the Wildings and doing the major revision of Chosen of Azara. In
May I'll be doing the fine-tuning on Chosen of Azara. Depending on how
that goes, I may even be able to get to the final copyediting and
proofreading edits, the last stage before formatting the book and
releasing it for sale. I'll also be doing the next revision on The Lost Book of Anggird
based on the feedback I've gotten from my test readers. Response to
that book has been very positive, but my readers have also given me some
great suggestions to make it even better.

So, busy busy. I
love it when things move right along on schedule. And now that Camp
NaNo is over and I won't be reporting on my word count from that, I'll
blog about some more interesting things.

Other

Kyra Halland: Welcome to My Worlds is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Subscribe

Followers

Google+ Followers

About Me

Kyra Halland has always loved fantasy. She has also always loved a good love story. Years ago, as a new stay-at-home mom, she decided to combine those two loves - like chocolate and peanut butter! - by writing the kinds of romantic fantasy novels she wanted to read.
Complicated, honorable heroes; strong, smart, feminine heroines; magic, romance, and adventure; deep emotion mixed with a dash of offbeat humor - all of these make up Kyra Halland's worlds. She loves sharing those worlds with readers and hopes they will enjoy her stories and characters as much as she does.
Kyra Halland lives in southern Arizona. She has a very patient husband, two less-patient cats, two young adult sons, a lovely daughter-in-law, and an adorable granddaughter. Besides writing, she enjoys scrapbooking and anime, and she wants to be a crazy cat lady when she grows up.